Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[NanaLynn]

Thank you everyone, a hummingbird moth? Never knew. I have the huge bumblebees and carpenter bees here and the coloring is so similar, so I assumed a type of bee.

I'll have to put a window flower box there, that would look great, thanks for the idea. It is a real window with a screen too. It is my husbands shed for his riding lawn mower and tools, I've taken over part of it for chicken supplies too. (I have hinted that it would make a great chicken coop too)

Here is how the Japanese pencil bush should eventually look, mine are pretty small still.



I need to start a notebook with all these ideas or a Word document. So much good advice from everyone.

We do having pretty good weather here, except for all the rain lately. I live just outside of Charlotte, NC

 

[lalaland]

From what I understand it is hard to grow from seed because the seeds are often not fertilized. I am not 100% on that, but I did purchase seeds and I did have growth!



This is what it looks like when it has gone to seed.

oh! now it makes sense to me. this kind of clematis in your picture is native to eastern north america, it is also called virgin's bower or woodbind, and it is a vigorous self-seeder. Great cover for songbirds too. when I first read your comment that your clematis self-seeds, I was thinking I've never heard of a clematis that self-seeds. I was forgetting woodbind, I have that growing too!

 

[lalaland]

@aoxa, a handy tip for IDing maples is that they are always symmetrical. Sometimes it can be hard.to spot because one of the branches took off while the other died, but they always grow branches and leaves in opposite pairs.

With regard to goats & poison oak/ivy, yes they love it but some people who are particularly sensitive to the plants can react to the milk of goats that consume large amounts of it, and the oils can transfer to your hands from the udder while milking if you dont wash it thoroughly beforehand (ask me how I know...lol)

Burdock root is edible, and makes an AMAZING addition to winter stews. Really does amazing things for the flavors of the other veggies, especially roots. It is highly prized as a food in Japan, I have seeds for a named cultivar but haven't planted them yet.

A mixture of nettle, raspberry leaf, and red clover buds makes an excellent women's tea for nutrition and reproductive system support. I am currently harvesting and drying as much as I can of all three for when we start trying to conceive this winter. My sister used it all through her pregnancy and lactation, with great results. Highly nutritious, too, especially for wintertime when many micronutrients are in short supply.

I've used the nettle and raspberry leaves for tea but never thought of the red clover buds. And I love burdock! A total pain to dig up the root, it is soo deep.

About nettles. Where ever they grow is a good indicator of rich fertile soil. There are beneficial butterfly's and moths that use nettles to lay their eggs. They are indeed rich in nutrients. (I've never been that hungry) Not a bad plant. But remember. Right plant for the right place. Every thing else is a weed.

You'll laugh, but I actually had to seed nettles on my land. I still go to the farm down the road every spring and harvest a couple of grocery bags full - I just take a scissor, cut a stem and use the scissor to put the stem in the bag. hate the sting! I love having them in the spring, steamed, kind of a spring tonic thing, and use them dried in teas. I have heard they are great for chickens too, but haven't shared yet.


And, nettle, and burdock both definitely don't belong in the romantic garden!

 

[MumsyII]

oh! now it makes sense to me. this kind of clematis in your picture is native to eastern north america, it is also called virgin's bower or woodbind, and it is a vigorous self-seeder. Great cover for songbirds too. when I first read your comment that your clematis self-seeds, I was thinking I've never heard of a clematis that self-seeds. I was forgetting woodbind, I have that growing too!

This is why it helps when we use the latin name. Every region and all over the world, common names change for plants. The Latin name is universally used by nurserymen and women and horticulturists. It saves on a lot of confusion. It also makes it far easier to research and then order the plant. Whenever I used to ask for a vine called 'Mile a Minute', the staff would just stare at me blankly. When I learned the true name was Polygonum Aubertii, they could look in their catalog and tell me if they had it or could get it. When I am at home in my own garden amongst my friends and families, I use the common name and I think many of them are very charming. Like 'Woodbine'. When I am teaching, researching, or ordering, I use the latin name.

 

[MumsyII]

I've used the nettle and raspberry leaves for tea but never thought of the red clover buds. And I love burdock! A total pain to dig up the root, it is soo deep.




And, nettle, and burdock both definitely don't belong in the romantic garden!

I do make tisane from various wild plants and herbs on occasion. Especially if Shadow comes to visit. She is a tea drinker. In my reproductive years I made and drank more of it.
I allow burdock along with the nettles to grow out in the wild rose garden. The chickens forage out there. I've never seen mine take a nibble of nettles but I've seen a hen step on one and limp for five minutes. The chickens and turkeys love the leaves of burdock. They get shredded in no time. I fork them up if they come into the potager garden and throw them to the flock. My soil is so loamy, the tap root can sometimes be eighteen inches long! Burdock doesn't help my nettle stings. I use aloe plant goo if I have one in the greenhouse or the gel I keep in the house. It's the only thing that helps the pain. My skin is very sensitive.

 

[armorfirelady]

I love the butterfly bushes - so pretty and fragrant!  They are sold as annuals here because they can't handle the winters.  I've tried to overwinter one in a pot in the insulated garage, but it didn't make it.

I live near buffalo,ny the place that always seems to make the weather channel when we get several feet of snow (normal winter for us). Temps normallynget below several several times with wind chills below zero for weeks at a time.
I have 2 clematis plants that survive our winters just fine. Perhaps the ones they sell near you are a different variety?

Midnightroo i have never seen a humming bird moth so if those flowers attracted them that would be cool. I know we have them around here since a friend of mine told me he saw one last week.

 

[lalaland]

I do make tisane from various wild plants and herbs on occasion. Especially if Shadow comes to visit. She is a tea drinker. In my reproductive years I made and drank more of it.
I allow burdock along with the nettles to grow out in the wild rose garden. The chickens forage out there. I've never seen mine take a nibble of nettles but I've seen a hen step on one and limp for five minutes. The chickens and turkeys love the leaves of burdock. They get shredded in no time. I fork them up if they come into the potager garden and throw them to the flock. My soil is so loamy, the tap root can sometimes be eighteen inches long! Burdock doesn't help my nettle stings. I use aloe plant goo if I have one in the greenhouse or the gel I keep in the house. It's the only thing that helps the pain. My skin is very sensitive.

I will have to remember burdock leaves for chickens, I don't have any growing on my land here, but it is plentiful in the midwest. Once I had a book about weeds, it told you what your soil was based on what kind of weeds grew there. I lent it to someone and it wasn't returned. When I moved to this place, I was wishing I had it again. anyway, I was thinking the soil here wasn't optimal for the burdock.

mumsy, do you have a weed called jewelweed? kind of a stringy plant with small orange yellow flowers that are unremarkable, but the seed pods which look like miniature pea pods only skinnier, maybe a quarter inch long, spring open when you touch them? sometimes called "touch me not" - likes moist soil and is fantastic for nettle stings.

hallelujah, its raining! it hasnt rained for a few weeks and everything is wilting.

 

[coldupnorth]

Quote: I've got burdock all over and am constantly pulling it up before it "flowers". The burrs make a real mess in our dog's fur and we end up just taking a scissors to them. I've gotten them in my hair a few times and when walking in our back woods. They grow so tall in the dappled light of the trees.

lalaland - you must be just south of us. We own a small lot near Rutledge that we use every once in awhile. I agree on the rain and am very thankful that I won't have to water the garden. The plants will be very happy!

 

[MumsyII]

I will have to remember burdock leaves for chickens, I don't have any growing on my land here, but it is plentiful in the midwest. Once I had a book about weeds, it told you what your soil was based on what kind of weeds grew there. I lent it to someone and it wasn't returned. When I moved to this place, I was wishing I had it again. anyway, I was thinking the soil here wasn't optimal for the burdock.

mumsy, do you have a weed called jewelweed? kind of a stringy plant with small orange yellow flowers that are unremarkable, but the seed pods which look like miniature pea pods only skinnier, maybe a quarter inch long, spring open when you touch them? sometimes called "touch me not" - likes moist soil and is fantastic for nettle stings.

hallelujah, its raining! it hasnt rained for a few weeks and everything is wilting.

It took me a minute pondering 'jewelweed. I do not know that name but when you say 'touch me not' I remember a plant! Wow! I had forgotten about it. It does have history on my property. Back in 1990 I brought a plant home from a back yard nursery. Like mine. It specialized in unique perennials and roses. In a pot of a plant I purchased was a tiny seedling. I call these refugee plants. I tend to like them. Like getting a two for the price of one plant. Any hoo....I cultivated that little plant and put it into the wild garden. It reminded me of orchids and impatiens and all manner of exotic plant. I was enthralled! Until I saw it explode seed everywhere. Within a couple years, the entire wild garden was choked with this plant. It came up in pathways, under roses, in the vegetable garden. It became a scourge! I pulled it up by the bucketful. My husband went on a seek and kill mission with this plant when it threatened to completely over take our little half acre. I have not seen it in twenty two years. Totally forgot about it until now. Mine was a beautiful pink/purple color. I loved that plant until it decided to take over my world. Highly invasive. Impatiens glandulifera Royle

 

[aoxa]

I've got burdock all over and am constantly pulling it up before it "flowers". The burrs make a real mess in our dog's fur and we end up just taking a scissors to them. I've gotten them in my hair a few times and when walking in our back woods. They grow so tall in the dappled light of the trees.

lalaland - you must be just south of us. We own a small lot near Rutledge that we use every once in awhile. I agree on the rain and am very thankful that I won't have to water the garden. The plants will be very happy!

We have a lot of that in our woods... Hate that stuff!